Edwin Valero

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent before he was arrested in his wife's death and hanged himself in a Venezuelan jail, his mother-in-law said Tuesday.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero, who had a spectacular career with 27 straight knockouts and flouted a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell Monday after being arrested in the fatal stabbing of his wife, police said.

The former lightweight champion used the sweat pants he was wearing to hang himself from a bar in the cell, said his lawyer, Milda Mora.